Rob Brant was not entirely satisfied with his last appearance on ShoBox when he squeaked out a majority decision victory over Louis Rose last October so he ensured to bring out the fireworks at Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona for the latest installment of the Showtime produced series on Friday night.
For this appearance on Showtime, Brant (19-0, 12 KOs) blew away Atlantic City, New Jersey’s DeCarlo Perez (15-4-1, 5 KOs) by a gigantic fourth round knockout to win the WBA NABA middleweight title. The official time of the knockout was 39 seconds of round four.
Perez had no answer for Brant’s textbook-straight right hand as the Minnesota native dropped Perez in the third with a picture perfect right cross. In the fourth round Brant blinded Perez with a jab then delivered another straight right hand which landed perfectly on Perez and almost carried him out of the ring. Perez’ head took a violent snap back and he was out before he ever hit the canvas. The referee didn’t bother to count and instead asked for medical assistance to ensure Perez was okay.
Brant won the national golden gloves after winning over 100 amateur fights and vowed before the bout to put on a much better performance than the last time he fought in front of a national audience. Brant got out to a quick start popping clean shots at Perez and landing 62 of 139 power shots. Brant, known more for his technical skills rather than power, displayed both tonight as he captures the biggest win of his professional career. Brant clearly reaped the benefits of training with Errol Spence Jr. for this bout.
Brooklyn’s Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller stays unbeaten and improves to 16-0-1 (14 KOs) with a lethal seventh round TKO victory over a very game Donovan Dennis (12-3, 10 KOs) in his second consecutive appearance on the Shobox series. The official time of the stoppage was 2:31.
This was the first time the ultra-heavyweight Miller went past six rounds although it looked as if the fight would end quickly as Miller caught Dennis with a huge overhand right that dropped Dennis to the canvas of the very small 16 X 16 ring. Dennis did get up and “Big Baby” pulverized Dennis with another right hand that busted his nose and sent him down again.
Dennis survived the round and fought the rest of the way on wobbly legs and pure instinct even stinging Miller with big left hook up top and a body shot which made Miller peel over. Dennis could not string together anything in terms of combinations and Miller was able to bully him around the ring.
Miller came in to the bout weighing 274 pounds which was a few pounds lighter than his previous outing where he knocked out Akhtor Muralimov in three rounds. Dennis, who finished second in the 2015 ESPN Boxcino tournament, was clearly Miller’s toughest test to date making him work and overtime.
Miller came out for the kill in the seventh round letting his hands go landing four unanswered power shots until the referee mercifully jumped into prevent further punishment. Dennis literally laid his head on the referee’s shoulder and let out a breath of relief. Miller praised Dennis for making him work and then preceded to call out every top name in the heavyweight division.
In the opening bout of the telecast on Showtime knockout artist Bakhtiyar Eyubov (10-0, 10 KOs) blasted Jared Robinson (16-3-1, 7 KOs) to win by third round TKO. The official time of the stoppage was 56 seconds of round three.
The 29-year-old welterweight from Kazakhstan blew away Robinson with heavy handed hooks to the body and head resulting in a big knockdown in the first thirty seconds of round one. Robinson made it to his feet but could barely catch his breath before Eyubov swarmed all over him with massive hooks almost sending Robinson through the ropes resulting in another knockdown. Robinson barely made it out of round one.
Eyubov continued in round two where he left off the previous round with a hellish attack of power shots. Robinson came into the bout with a 7 and ½ reach advantage and Eyubov allowed him to get off some free shots before Eyubov would wound up again and delivered another powerful combinations of hooks and uppercuts to score the third knockdown of the bout.
The powerful Kazakhi fighter who now makes his Brooklyn his home unleashed furious left and right handed hooks to start round three and landed almost every shot until the referee jumped in to save Robinson form further abuse. Eyubov celebrated the victory with a dance in the middle of the ring much to the delight of the crowd. He just may be the second hardest puncher to come from Kazakhstan and even sent a friendly salutation to Gennady Golovkin when Eyubov saw the camera in his face.
- Vladimir Lik / @VladimirLik
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